Posted on 01/27/2010 10:49:42 AM PST by Maelstorm
Former Arizona congressman-turned-talk-radio-host J.D. Hayworth has resigned his gab-festing gig in order to challenge Sen. John McCain in the 2010 Republican primary. (Although he has not officially launched his campaign, Hayworth recently told the AP, "We will formally announce at a later time, but we're moving forward to challenge John McCain.")
In these strange political times, such an extraordinary event -- McCain was the GOP presidential nominee just 15 months ago -- seems normal to the point of predictability. So, too, were the unsurprising responses within the political firmament. Democrats were delighted, movement conservatives were energized -- and not always in secret. Already, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) has endorsed Hayworth, and numerous conservative blogs and Web sites are giddy about his candidacy. I'm not sure they should be. Get the new PD toolbar!
Hayworth has a chance to catch fire for one simple reason: Conservatives, the people most likely to vote in a GOP primary election, have long been suspicious -- and in many cases, even contemptuous -- of McCain. (I have long been critical myself of his quixotic attempts to limit free speech via McCain/Feingold.)
The issue most likely to hurt McCain in Arizona, however, is his 2007 advocacy for the unpopular Kennedy-McCain immigration legislation -- a bill many conservatives still view as offering nearly unlimited "amnesty" for illegal aliens without doing anything to secure America's borders. In fact, McCain's support of this legislation nearly cost him the GOP's presidential nomination. Few issues arouse as much emotion as this one, and while the controversial co-founder of the Minuteman movement, Chris Simcox, is also in the race, he lacks the gravitas to pose a legitimate challenge to McCain. But Hayworth, a former member of Congress, seems well positioned to exploit this issue -- and even parlay it into national exposure and fundraising success.
The real issue for me, however, is that while John McCain has many problems, there's no reason to believe Hayworth is the solution. As conservatives look to young leaders with fresh ideas, Hayworth is a step backward. For starters, he was heavily involved with former "super-lobbyist" Jack Abramoff. Although he later cooperated with federal investigators and was never found to have done anything illegal, Hayworth was the largest recipient of campaign money from the now-convicted Abramoff.
Even more disquieting from a conservative philosophical point of view, Hayworth was supportive of the Bush era's big spending -- much more so than the fiscally prudent McCain.
Two things tainted the Republican brand: Corruption and spending -- and Hayworth is tied to both of them.
Hayworth's support of Bush's big-government polices included voting for the No Child Left Behind Act; the paperwork- and red-tape-friendly (and business-unfriendly) Sarbanes-Oxley Act; the pork-laden 2005 highway bill that included the infamous "bridge to nowhere"; and, most expensive of all, a Medicare drug benefit that created more than $7 trillion in unfunded liabilities. What is more, his support for a monstrosity known as the 527 Reform Act, which was intended to close "loopholes" in McCain/Feingold, and which was arguably worse for conservatives than the original article.
So Hayworth opposed McCain/Feingold, but supported the 527 Reform Act. This is telling, because the Republican leadership supported the latter. Hayworth's backing of it, therefore, shows his willingness to bend to the will of his party's establishment. This is hardly the record of a bold and independent conservative.
My take: As conservatives seek to remake the GOP, and simultaneously oppose President Obama's liberal policies, they should worry more about getting ahead and less about getting even. The truth is, we live in a world of limited resources. As such, conservatives must shepherd their political capital. There are numerous conservatives who deserve -- and need -- the support of grassroots activists and conservative donors. But every dollar donated to a J.D. Hayworth equals one dollar that does not go to a Marco Rubio, for example.
And let's be honest: John McCain most likely won't be running for re-election six years from now. Hayworth, on the other hand, would likely be in the Senate for the next 20 years. In other words, call me when Arizona congressmen Jeff Flake or John Shadegg decide to run statewide. Until then, I can certainly live with John McCain.
The Democrats had the votes to exclude McCain but they wanted the Republicans in agreement to give them political cover. Helms refused. He was in the tightest race of his career, one that would go into the wee hours of the morning on election night. He didn't want to be seen as excusing a Republican and prosecuting Democrats no matter how innocent the Republican was. It was his refusal that forced McCain into the hearings.
Let's split the vote so McCain can squeak in, good strategy.
You sound like one of the future ex-Senator’s lackeys.
Struck another nerve! 2 for 2! LOL
I didn’t realize you were that touchy.
Nor did I realize I was dealing with a 12 year old.
If you want to come on the forum and debate issues, lay off the juvenile responses.
Are you calling God evil? Because he certainly allowed very bad things to happen to Israel when the turned their backs from Him.
Sometimes you must allow pain in order to get the people’s attention. It this case short term pain will result in long term gain ... hopefully.
Is either any of us God? No. Can any of us understand the mind of God? No.
For us humans the ends don't justify the means. Hoping for Obama to win the election by some so that it would be a wake up call to the masses would be permitting evil to happen to bring about a good. Only God thru his permissive will allow evil in order to bring about a greater good. This power is for God only, not use screwed up mortals.
I am just hoping for some kind of bright light in this gloomy McCain saga down the road of progressivism.
Hey, he got the nom, it was his turn, he wimped, he lost. Now it's funny to watch him get a little energized about a campaign. He gets to fight a Republican!
I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Inigo. He'll make sense of your remark.
Let's get rid of McCain now, before he does something else stupid to cement his "legacy".
If J.D. is half as disappointing as McCain, work to get rid of him in 2016.
You are right. Crazy McCain seemed ready to collapse when he faced Obama and his mind wandered. Now he is allegedly fighting to go and tear up a fellow Republican.
“Actually, I don’t think he has to, either to be fair or to defend his point”
Of course he does.
His main point is that Hayworth should be opposed because of his voting record, and then gives a laundry list of reasons for it. The problem with that argument is that that same laundry list, if that’s a reason for someone’s vote, DOES NOT favor McCain either.
And additionally, one particular topic left off that list does favor Hayworth and does not favor McCain, and that’s the Kennedy-McCain-Bush immigration act.
So, if were counting on the condition of how empty is the gass, by the record Hayworth’s glass is less empty than McCain’s. Enough to give him the nod in he primary? Some belief it is - if the contest is only McCain-vs-Hayworth - and the author did not make a convincing argument otherwise.
Additionally, a populist “thrown the bums out” sentiment could weigh against incumbents in general. If the Dims pick a big-time party insider - which Hayworth is not - his image as an independent (I did say image) may make him more electable, in the general election than the establishment McCain.
Besides, in my view, it is simply time for McCain to go. I believe his time on the political stage has run it’s course.
This has nothing to do with the Dems at this point. McCain and his dirty tricksters have already started attacking Hayworth, including his association with Abramoff. And you are making some assumptions about what JD probably said about his connection with Abramoff. We do know what McCain said about the Keating affair.
And BTW, just so we're clear, when i said I wondered if you'd be talking about JD and Abramoff in six years, that was a comment about you, not JD. I have no reason to believe he did anything wrong, but I have reason to believe (because you proved it) that you have a double standard.
I have no double standard. People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. McCain's attack dogs are already out and promising a scorched earth policy against Hayworth.
One source familiar with the McCain campaign said the offensive was only a preview of things to come, adding, “I wouldn’t want to be on the receiving end of this.”
The McCain effort to shoot down Hayworth has also taken place behind the scenes, according to several sources, with McCain allies warning Hayworth against a campaign. “I know some party folks have come to J.D. and said, ‘This is not good for you,’” said one person familiar with the effort.
Translation: Let's play checkers. Chess is for morans [sic].
You are the one playing checkers. This is a battle for the soul of the GOP. We need to get rid of the self-described maverick who wants to reach across the aisle and blur the distinctions between parties. Any short term benefit of reelecting this jerk will outweigh the long term damage he will do to the party and its brand. I heard the same arguments as to why we should support Specter.
No one “allowed” Obama to win. The GOP, through abandonment of conservative principles, set up a scenario where the Rats would have a large majority in both houses of Congress and the presidency.
And, as you say, no one can know God’s will. Perhaps this was God’s way of getting our attention.
A truly TERRIBLE and grossly ignorant comparison. Do you even know what happened?
John S. McCain III, Lieut. Commander, U.S. Navy
John McCain spent 5½ years in captivity as a POW in North Vietnam. Shot down in his Skyhawk dive bomber on Oct. 26, 1967, Navy flier McCain was taken prisoner with fractures in his right leg and both arms. He received minimal care and was kept in wretched conditions in his own words, based on almost total recall, is Commander McCain’s narrative of 5½ years in the hands of the North Vietnamese.
The date was Oct. 26, 1967. I was on my 23rd mission, flying right over the heart of Hanoi in a dive at about 4,500 feet, when a Russian missile the size of a telephone pole came up—the sky was full of them—and blew the right wing off my Skyhawk dive bomber. It went into an inverted, almost straight-down spin.
I pulled the ejection handle, and was knocked unconscious by the force of the ejection—the air speed was about 500 knots. I didn’t realize it at the moment, but I had broken my right leg around the knee, my right arm in three places, and my left arm. I regained consciousness just before I landed by parachute in a lake right in the corner of Hanoi, one they called the Western Lake. My helmet and my oxygen mask had been blown off.
I hit the water and sank to the bottom. I think the lake is about 15 feet deep, maybe 20. I kicked off the bottom. I took a breath of air and started sinking again. Of course, I was wearing 50 pounds, at least, of equipment and gear.
Some North Vietnamese swam out and pulled me to the side of the lake and immediately started stripping me, which is their standard procedure. Of course, this being in the center of town, a huge crowd of people gathered, and they were all hollering and screaming and cursing and spitting and kicking at me.
When they had most of my clothes off, I felt a twinge in my right knee. I sat up and looked at it, and my right foot was resting next to my left knee, just in a 90-degree position. I said, “My God—my leg!” That seemed to enrage them —I don’t know why.
One of them slammed a rifle butt down on my shoulder, and smashed it pretty badly. Another stuck a bayonet in my foot. The mob was really getting up-tight.
During 5 1/2 years as a POW John McCain was 2 years in solitary confinement a program of vigorous torture methods began on McCain, using rope bindings into painful positions and beatings every two hours, at the same time as he was suffering from dysentery. Teeth and bones were broken again
Various tortures throughout those years along with left arm was broken again and ribs were cracked.
Many people allowed this to happen by supporting McCain over conservative candidates in the primary because McCain was supposedly "electable". The power ultimately resides with the people as shown by the recent elections won in large part because of the Tea Party movement.
And, as you say, no one can know God’s will. Perhaps this was God’s way of getting our attention.
Or maybe not...;)
Nice try but Juan McAmnesty is a gutless Democrat ash kisser who wants to “work with Democrats” which really means help defeat Republican bills.
JD could show up dead drunk and be ten times better than that phony and his BS “Straight talk express.”
Uh-huh.
I guess that's "debating issues" in your world. Congratulations.
No. See post 37. He was investigated solely for the purposes of giving cover to Democrats.
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